I went to read to my 7 year old son for our bedtime stories the other night and he grabbed a DK book on the Presidents of the U.S. off his bookcase. We went through all the Presidents and he asked a couple questions here and there until we got to Lincoln. He grabbed the book and was looking at it with a look I'm all too familiar with (on my face). You know, that intense glazed over look? He asked, "He was President during the Civil War, right?" He asked some more basic questions and then said, "I'll be back." He went down to my books and grabbed a "Civil War Visual Encyclopedia" off my bookcase and then really went to town asking questions. Some of them were pretty deep when asking about why the war started. *side note* (my relatives were all Union but I was raised to have a well rounded education on the war and I would like to think I don't ooze with a bias point of view. I'll leave it up to him to form opinions) He really liked the cannons and the swords of course. Our little bedtime reading ritual lasted for several hours. It was so fun to see him with that glimmer of interest. He's a couple years younger than I was when the bug bit me. It's great because I will never bond with him over football or baseball, I'm just the driver, photographer and cheerleader when it comes to that. So this is our hobby, not just mine anymore.

I wish my kids were that interested. When my son was about 5 or 6 he used to like looking at the colour uniform plates in books. There was one of a Guards regiment at Waterloo he really liked. Now he is 15 I'm not sure what he is interested in..... actually I do know, X Box!!

You should have seen the look on my girls faces in the Musee d' la Armee in Paris you would think I as the worst parent in the world for putting them through that torture. That'll teach 'em.

Xbox? Santa couldn't find a stinkin Wii anywhere this year for my kids. Still looking. Guitar Hero is sitting getting dust on it here with no player to use it.

Poor, poor kids being subjected to such painful vacations and trips to the museums? That will teach them for sure. More ways than one. Ha.

My bro still to this day relates in a very animated way all the history pit stops Dad's car seemed to make when we were kids. No matter where we were there were markers to be found. "Oh no! Dad is exiting the freeway AGAIN! We're in the middle of nowhere!!!"

Santa found a Wii for my eldest daughter and a X box for my son. However his GH is for Playstation 2 which went into meltdown (literally) before Christmas. We are now looking for a cheapish secondhand PS2 so he can still play his games.

What is God's Green Earth are y'all talkin about???
I am old, but I hope not that old!
Fortunatley, Grandson will accept anything to do with Motocross and racing his motorcycle...
Makes it Easy and his dad does the HiTech stuff, leaving Papa free to do stuff like be a sponsor to his racing

Bama, we're talking about how great it is our kids are soaking up history instead of doing mindless things like play video games...wait a minute...

Any good Wii games I should know about?

Now onto motorcycles...hubby has wanted one for years. Mother-in-law thinks I signed some sort of invisible "anti motorcycle contract" with her. I would never hear the end of it. Now if her grandkids were on them? Holy smokes.

What is God's Green Earth are y'all talkin about??? I am old, but I hope not that old!

Bama. What we're talking about here is giving the kids what they want instead of what they need. Like whatever the electronic gimcrack is going to substitute for year-round monitoring and kicking arse when required.

I'll take that back. Things change. It's not the same no more. I thought the Dad was a bit hard on us. I can only imagine what his Dad gave him. And I moderated the practice a bit while mine were young. And I disapprove how he gives his. And when his start reproducing, he will also, doubtless, disapprove.

But one of these days, a generation, not necessarily one we'll live to see, will start to swing the pendulum back to where it was. And when it reaches that apex, it will start to swing the other way. Again. And again.

Ours is a very complex society. I look for it to do well, but I fear that it is heading to hell in a handbasket. I haven't that much time left to be overly concerned for myself. But there are a couple of brilliant girls that my son has to worry about. Can't quite get that thought out of my mind.

Congratulations! another one sets out on a life-long journey! Well, we can only hope anyhow. I know what you mean. My son (8) is more into Harry Potter right now, but he does show interest with some of my shows and books. The other day Myth Busters was trying to see if they could smack two minnie balls into eachother and have them drop. I told him I'd seen them afterwards. That caused a late night internet search for photographic evidence. You've probably seen some of my posts, you'll realise that some of my happiest moments as a kid were going to the parks with mom or dad. I'm trying to give that to my kids without ramming it at them and turning it off. My wife couldn't care less. Our gener roles are not out of the Cleaver's book. I cook, she watches football.

Having said that, my kids are the only ones in their classes ever to sponge out a 12-pounder (courtessy of the NPS). Some of his fellow cub scouts loved hearing about it. I keep hoping. The DO seem to like going out with me on my periodic treks. Rather have him out hiking then stuck to his Nintendo DS. My wife DOES agree with that one.

Ole,
I too fear the "hell in a handbasket" scenerio and I agree that the pendulum should swing, but it shows no signs... I have 2 grandsons..one 10 and one 2. The 10 year old is a very bright young man who exudes confidence. He is the motorcycle racer...completed his 3rd season racing and has been riding for 6 years. Neither nis dad or I ever had a motorcycle..he has 2. He also enjoys the electronic dodads but he really likes being outdoors doing stuff..He has asked me several questions about the CW and I hope to take him to Shiloh before long to show him one of the places his gggg grandfathers and uncles fought..
Brennan has never sponged out a 12 pounder, but you should see him sail over jumps...you would think he sprouted wings.
to see pics go to http://www.brennanstanfield.com

The 2 year old is a hoot and will be as rambunctious as all little ones become.

My sweet mom is an elementay teacher in the public schools and she has said that history is all but gone in the curriculum. Sad but true. She teaches in a very low income area where many of her students are the children of hardened gang members who are drug pushing, incarcerated losers. She refuses to let her students slip by without seeing her get excited over history. I do have a problem with music and history disappearing in the schools. Right now the big concern is getting the fried chicken and french fries off the lunch plates because of the obesity problem. I have a problem with teachers getting all the slack. It all starts at home. Parents need to step up to the plate for thier kids' dwindling grades and interest, lack of respect etc. So here I am, a parent to three kids. Big responsibility.

Parents need to step up to the plate for thier kids' dwindling grades and interest, lack of respect etc. So here I am, a parent to three kids. Big responsibility.

And therein, Fuller, is the entire problem. The parents. Almost everything wrong with anything can be traced back to the parents. Seems that these days there are too many single mothers with not enough time to actually parent. And homes with two parents, both working, have little time to spend with developing their get.

There is no manual to instruct a parent. If there was one, it would be entirely wrong. There is absolutely nothing to replace a caring (and reasonably moral) mother and father. And one would hope they are not dopers or overly angry about silly things.

The moral comes first. All the other book-learning comes second. Without the basics, the best teacher ever becomes helpless. And the basics are learned at home.

The moral comes first. All the other book-learning comes second. Without the basics, the best teacher ever becomes helpless. And the basics are learned at home.

ole

As a teacher who taught for 34 years I agree with this totally. I had the kids from 9 to 3 basically five days a week for nine months not including days off for holidays . In that time I was supose to take care of all their needs. I taught in the inner city, I taught in the surburbs . I taught all kinds of children. I was a primary teacher. The teacher that starts the kids on their journey though education.

I hear all the time about what we didn't teach. I had the kids seven hours and twenty minutes . In that time I taught Reading Writing , Spelling , Math, Language arts , Science Social Studies, Art and Music or and P.E. All of these scheduled in and around assemblies, pta events, jog a thons, earthquake drills, firedrills, lice checks, dental checks , vision and hearing screening , testing , reading buddies. Add to that the disruptive kid that needs to be taken care of before he or she causes more problems. I have taught holding a child in my lap to keep him from beating up one of the other kindergarteners in my class (inner city school. child's mother was dying and he didn't understand what was going on). I taught with another child who would have emotional out brust on a pretty daily basis as mother was bedridden having her fifth child and this young one was pretty much ignored at home. She too didn't know what was going on. This was a really good family , an oops pregancy and a father on overload trying to be all to his four girls. I would have to calm this little one down before I could teach the others

I could go on and on and there are plenty of other teachers out there that have the same or other stories. Check out the name Rafe Escales and the Hobarth Street Shakepeareans. He does amazing things with his inner city kids.

We do the best we can but we are not perfect . Seems like the bad ones always get the publicity, and what we are said not to teach gets all the news.

Not teaching history? You should see the units I have seen in grade school classes I have been invovled with . I have seen children become craftsmen of the Colonial times , seaman on 24 hours before the Mast and experience what it must have been like to travel by wagon to Oregon using interactive material . They made up wagon trains and traveled by doing challenges on the trail to Oregon.

I know of children that do first person presentations of historical figures . They present these to the younger children at the school.

I know of students that study the Renaissance then attend the special school days at The Renaissance Faire.

Now that I am retired I give school tours to kids from local schools in Los Angeles area at the Drum Barracks. Some of the kids know quite a bit about the War , others are just beginning to learn . I will always remember the little girl that when looking at the document signed by Lincoln asked me with wonder . Did President Lincoln actually touch that paper? When I said yes, she dragging the rest of her class to see the paper Lincoln touched.

That was me who said that and it was not the way I meant for it to come out. From the rest of my post you can see I was trying to say I'm tired of the teachers getting blamed for issues that all start in the home. How can you pay attention in class if you just saw your dad get hauled off to jail for beating up your mom the night before?

It will be interesting to see what kind of work my kids will bring home in the next couple years. My oldest is in the 2nd grade so it's mostly the fundamental stuff right now.

Bravo to you Susan for all the work you do with your students and history. We need more teachers like you.

Every school has their own issues to deal with. Schools that are high in ESL students are trying to get the basic language skills down. Top that with high numbers of below poverty households in some areas. No, I don't envy those teachers. I'm glad they are there performing community service. (I wouldn't call it that if they were getting paid adequately)

I am hoping my kids will be involved with lots of history in their public schools. I say that with a laugh because maybe my idea of "enough" history is off kilter. I am after all in here every day reading and talking history.

Fuller wasn't aiming at you. I just hear that so often. What teachers aren't doing or teaching . Or how they should do it . I come from several generations of teachers. I laughed a couple of years ago when my brother after working in the computer IT business for years finally joined the family business. He became a college prof at the age of 58. He is so happy now. I am now six years into retirement I still miss the kids and the teaching itself. All those other things I don't miss at all. I still find myself when I have a teachable moment teaching someone something . Usually at the Drum when I am doing a tour. I also spend a lot of time talking to the young man I work with talking about history , The Civil War . He is the staff person and is learning about the Civil War as he works. He has learned quite a bit in the year he has worked there.

You, Fuller , will make sure your kids have a love of history the same as your dad gave you.

It all comes back to the family. There is evidence that a good teacher can give a kid a future, but that's asking a lot of an underpaid someone. If it doesn't happen at home, it doesn't happen. Period. End of rant.

It all comes back to the family. There is evidence that a good teacher can give a kid a future, but that's asking a lot of an underpaid someone. If it doesn't happen at home, it doesn't happen. Period. End of rant.